Air circulator



May 29, 1956 G. c. EDMONDS AIR CIRCULATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 2. 1952 INVENTOR Qvrye Qf%zzfiwa BY 2 l g z I ATTORNEY May 29, 1956 G. c. EDMONDS AIR CIRCULATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 2, 1952 I N VEN TOR G ey/ye @zlzbfllhm llill w P I ATTORNEY May 29, 1956 e. c. EDMQNDS 2,747,791

AIR CIRCULATOR Filed July 2, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VE NTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent AIR CIRCULATOR George C. Edmouds, Huntington, W. Va.

Application July 2, 1952, Serial No. 296,790

14 Claims. (Cl. 230-259) This invention relates to a fan assembly useful for circulating air.

The invention has for its objects an air circulator which is portable, simple in assembly, and supportable for use in various positions; a fan assembly of the hassock type in which the air propelling means may assume various positions whereby it may be used as a floor type fan or a windowtype fan; a fan-motor assembly mounted as a trapeze on a pair of arms rotatably suspended from a supporting structure, the fan-motor assembly being swingable with the arms into a selected position, the fan-motor assembly being pivotally mounted on the arms for independent rotation into any adjusted position, whereby the fan may propel air in any selected direction; a fan-motor assembly mounted as a trapeze on a pair of arms which are releasably secured in a selected position, the fan-motor assembly being pivotally mounted on the arms and securedly held in any selected position, whereby the fan may propel air in any desired direction from any one of a number of different positions.

A further object of the invention is an air circulator comprising in combination a support, a pair of arms each rotatably mounted in trapeze arrangement at one end on said support, and fan assembly means rotatably mounted on the other ends of the arms, whereby the arms may be swung through an angle of 180 degrees and the fan assembly means may be rotated on the arms into any desired position.

A further object of the invention is an air circulator having a fan-motor assembly mounted on a support in which the fan-motor assembly may be rotated in an orbit with respect to the horizontal axis of the support and independently rotated planetary to the said orbit of rotation.

The invention has for its further objects a fan assembly of the hassock type in which the fan means may be used with or without louvers and deflector cone in the propulsion of air; and an air circulator of the hassock type in which the guard and housing is on the fan itself rather than on the frame work of the hassock.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description herein and the appended claims, and from the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation with the fan motor assembly in vertical position.

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation with the fan motor assembly in horizontal position in full lines, and the fan motor assembly and louvers in dotted lines after completion of a swing of 180 degrees with the fan motor assembly in vertical position.

Figure 4 is a view partly in section along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a view partly in section along the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective view, partly broken away,

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of the locking mechanism shown in Figures 4 and 5, and the support therefor.

Figure 7 is a view along the line 7-7 of Figure 2.

Figure 8 is a sectional view of the fan motor housing pivot assembly along the line 8-8 of Figure 3.

Figure 9 is a detail face view of a serrated member of the assembly shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is an elevational view of the member shown in Figure 9.

The numeral 1 indicates a tubular metal support of U-shape provided with boss members 2 in which are fixed the stub shafts 3 for rotatably supporting fanmotor assembly vertically disposed arms 6, at the lower ends of which in Figure 1, the fan-motor assembly is rotatably secured by the pivot assemblies 7, one of which is shown in detail in Figures 8, 9 and 10. The fanmotor assembly comprises the housing 4 with guard 8 having central bracket supports 9 to carry the rotatable electric motor shaft 10 and fan blades 11 secured to the shaft. The louvers 12 are carried by the arms 6 and spaced from one another by sleeves 13. Also carried by the arms 6 is the conical air deflector 14. The arms 6 are carried by brackets 53 by nuts 52. The brackets 53 are rotatable on the fixed stub shafts 3 and confined thereon by nuts 54. Welded to brackets 53 are the members 15 and 16 which carry the releasable locking means, and as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, a transverse strut 17 has a hole therein through which passes the vertical shaft 18 having fixedly secured thereto the button-like member 19, which is adapted to move in the cylindrical skirt 20 of the top casing 5. An arm 21 secured to the shaft 18 is located between two crosspieces 22 which pass through the members 15 and 16. A wire 23 passes over the cross-pieces 22 and under the arm 21, the wire being secured to reciprocatable locking rod elements 24 and 25 at the respective internal ends thereof by passing through openings 26 and 27. The shaft 24 is supported for reciprocation through openings in flanges 28 and 29 of the member 16, the spring 30 and stop pin 31 on shaft 24 providing resistance to shaft movement to the right. The shaft 25 is supported for reciprocating movement through the openings in flanges 32 and 33 of the member 1 6, with the spring 34 and stop pin 35 on the shaft 25 providing resistance to shaft movement to the left. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the locking rod 25 has its free end 36 lying in a recess 37 of the boss member 2. The shaft 24 correspondingly lies in one of the corresponding recesses of the opposite boss member, as shown in Figure 2.

Referring to Figures 8, 9 and 10, the pivot mechanism for the fan and motor assembly housing 4 comprises a pivot rod 38 passing through the housing 4 with the nut 39 on the threaded end of the rod engaging the housing 4. A flanged plate 40 has fixedly secured thereto, as by welding, the serrated member 41. Plate 40 is notched to take the molding around the housing 4 and hence is secured to and rotates with the fan housing 4. The tubular arm 6 has one end thereof flattened to provide one flattened face 48 to which is secured, as by welding, a second serrated member 42 which complements the first serrated member 41 in meshed face alignment 43. A collar 44 is attached to the lower end of the other flattened face 49 and receives therein a spring housing member 45 having the spring 47 therein. The member 45 abuts the head 46 of the pivot rod 38, and as shown in Figure 8, the pivot rod 38 is surrounded by the spring 47 and the serrated memhere 41 and 42. The fan housing 4 is rotatable around the pivot rod 38. The fan housing 4 is locked in position by the serrations on the mating faces of elements 41 and 42, which are under constant tension due to the compression of spring 47. The pivot assembly just described is correspondingly duplicated on the other supporting arm 6 on the other side of the fan and motor assembly housing 4. Other mechanical details include a handle 51 for the housing 4, and screws for attaching the top casing 5 to the deflector cone and brackets 53.

The electrical wiring for the fan motor is shown in Figure 3. The plug attachment cable 57 enters a leg member 1 near floor level and passes out of the leg into a switch 58 housed in boss member 2. The cable then passes through an opening in the bottom of 2 and enters the deflector cone 14. It then passes through an arm 6 and passes out of the same as shown by 50 and is joined to the motor leads by means of plug 56 carried by housing 4.

The operation of the device is as follows:

To swing the fan from the bottom position shown in full lines in Figure 3 to the top position shown in dotted lines, push button 19 downwardly. This places tension on the wires 23 (Figures 4, 5 and 6) and draws locking rods 24 and 25 inwardly and out of engagement with their respective recesses 37. The fan and motor assembly with its housing 4, the louvers 12, the deflector 14, and the top casing 5 are now free to swing as a unit on the stub shafts 3, since the brackets 53 and attached assemblies rotate on the stub shafts 3 that are fixed in bosses 2; the unit is swung in a clock-Wise direction and when the same reaches the top position wherein the support arms 6 have completed a swing of 180, the locking rods enter respective recesses 37 in the respective bosses 2. At this position, the fan and motor assembly housing 4 may be rotated around the pivot rods 38 in any of several directions, or up, or down, to pull air in or out. The pivot assembly mechanism is shown in Figure 8 for the fan and motor assembly housing. When this housing 4 is turned in any direction the serrated faces of members 41 and 42 will ride over each other and expand the flattened end of arm 6 against the compressive action of spring 47. When the fan and motor housing 4 is rotated to a selected position about the pivot rod 38, the spring 47 will cause the arm 6 to keep compression on serrated members 41 and 42. Since member 42 is secured to the flattened portion of arm 6, and since member 41 is secured to plate 40 which is attached to the fan and motor housing 4, the housing 4 will be held locked in any number of desired positions, as the members 40 and 41 are under constant tension due to compression in spring 47.

To return the fan-motor housing, louvers and deflector to its original floor position, from the position in dotted lines in Figure 3, the button 19 is pressed upwardly and the locking rods are released to permit the unit to be swung to bottom position.

From the above, it will be observed that the invention provides an air circulator with a trapeze effect; viz. the fan is usable from a horizontal floor position Where it may propel air against the cone 14 to be deflected through the louvers 12, or from a vertical floor position to propel air directly horizontal to the floor, or in any intermediate position; or swingable around the stub shafts 3 like a trapeze into position for use as a window fan, or into any other desired position when vertically supported by the arms 6.

The invention is not slavishly limited to the embodiment and details herein described as modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hassock-type air circulator having an upstanding support with two opposed side members, a supporting structure pivotally mounted on said side members, a pair of arms each having one end rigidly connected to said supporting structure, an air deflector carried by said arms, louvers carried by said arms adjacent to said air deflector, a fan-motor assembly pivotally mounted between the other ends of said arms, said fan-motor assembly having a shaft mounted therein, a fan in said assembly mounted on said shaft rotatable on an axis normal to the axis of the said pivotally-mounted fan-motor assembly, means positioned adjacent the fan-motor assembly for maintaining the fan-motor assembly in any selected position, and means positioned on the supporting structure for releasably securing the supporting structure in non-rotatable position with respect to said upstanding support.

2. A hassock-type air circulator comprising a support having opposing side legs, a pair of elongated vertically disposed arms rotatably mounted at spaced points with respect to said support and positioned between said legs, said support having a horizontal axis about which said arms are rotatable, a fan-motor assembly including a fan and motor, said assembly rotatably mounted on and carried by said arms and vertically spaced from the first named rotatable mounting of the arms, whereby the fanmotor assembly may be rotated in an orbit with respect to the horizontal axis of said support and independently rotated planetary to the said orbit of rotation.

3. An air circulator comprising, in combination, a U-shaped support comprising a base and legs, the legs of the U defining two opposed sides of the support joined by said base, boss means carried by said legs at a distance spaced from the base, shaft means secured in said boss means, said boss mean having recesses therein, a supporting structure rotatable on said shaft means, locking-rod means reciprocatingly mounted in said supporting structure, arm means carried by said supporting structure, a fan-motor assembly pivotally mounted on said arm means, and means operative to reciprocate the locking-rod means into and out of the recesses in the boss means to cause the supporting structure to be respectively non-rotatable or rotatable with respect to the U-shaped support.

4. An air circulator comprising, in combination, a U-shaped support comprising a base and legs, the legs of the U defining two opposed sides of the support joined by said base, boss means carried by said legs at a distance spaced from the base, shaft means secured in said boss means, said boss means having recesses therein, a supporting structure rotatable on said shaft means, lockingrod means reciprocatingly mounted in said supporting structure, arm means carried by said said supporting structure, a fan-motor assembly pivotally mounted on said arm means, a top casing covering the supporting structure, a locking-rod releasing button mounted in an opening in said casing, and means actuated by said releasing button to reciprocate the locking-rod means into and out of the recesses in the boss means to cause the supporting structure to be respectively non-rotatable or rotatable with respect to the U-shaped support.

5. An air circulator comprising, in combination, a U-shaped support comprising a base and legs, the legs of the U defining two opposed sides of the support joined by said base, boss means carried by said legs at a distance spaced from the base, shaft means fixedly secured in said boss means, a supporting structure rotatably mounted on said shaft means, arm means carried by said supporting structure, a fan-motor assembly housing having a pivotal mounting on said arm means, the pivotal mounting of the fan-motor assembly housing on the arm means including a pivot rod about which the fan-motor assembly housing is rotatable, a serrated member rigidly secured to the fan-motor assembly housing, a second serrated member rigidly secured to the arm means, and means maintaining the serrated members under compression to securely maintain the fan-motor assembly housing in any desired position with respect to the arm means.

6. An air circulator comprising, in combination, a U-shaped support comprising a base and legs, the legs of the U defining two opposed sides of the support joined by said base, boss means carried by said legs at a distance spaced from the base, shaft means mounted in said boss means, said boss means having recesses therein, a supporting structure mounted on said shaft means, locking-rod means reciprocatingly mounted in said supporting structure, arm means carried by said supporting structure, a fan-motor assembly housing including a fan and motor, said housing having a pivotal mounting on said arm means, means operative to reciprocate the locking-rod means into and out of the recesses in the boss means to cause the supporting means to be respectively non-rotatable or rotatable with respect to the U-shaped support, the pivotal mounting of the fan-motor assembly housing on said arm means including a pivot rod, two complementary serrated members through which the pivot rod passes, one of said serrated members being fixedly secured to the fan-motor assembly housing, the other of said serrated members being fixedly secured to the arm means, and means urging said serrated members into meshed position whereby the fan-motor assembly housing may be securedly maintained in any desired rotated position with respect to the arm means.

7. An air circulator comprising a supporting stand having a pair of side members, a pair of arms each of which is separately rotatably mounted on said side members, a fan-motor assembly including a fan and motor mounted between said arms and rotatable therewith, and pivotal mounting means on said arms and assembly permitting rotation of said fan-motor assembly planetary to the rotation of the arms, and means associated with the supporting stand for releasably holding the arms in nonrotating position.

8. An air circulator comprising a supporting stand having a pair of side members, a pair of arms each of which is separately rotatably mounted on said side members, a fan-motor assembly including a fan and motor having a pivotal mounting between said arms and rotatable therewith, the said fan-motor assembly being rotatable between the arms, means associated with the supporting stand for releasably holding the arms in nonrotating position, and means associated with the pivotal mounting for holding the fan-motor assembly in locked fan-operating position.

9. An air circulator comprising a supporting stand having a pair of side members, bracket support means rotatably mounted on said side members, a fan and motor assembly, a pair of arms carrying said fan and motor assembly between them, said arms secured at two opposed spaced positions to said bracket support means and rotatable therewith, means on said arms permitting rotation of said fan and motor assembly independently of the rotation of the arms, means carried by the bracket support for releasably holding the bracket support means in non-rotating position, and means carried by the arms for holding the fan and motor assembly locked in fan-operating position.

10. An air circulator comprising a support, a pair of arms suspended from said support and rotatable about an axis passing through said support, a fan-motor assembly including a fan and a motor for said fan, said assembly pivotally mounted on the arms, a deflector cone and louvers associated with said arms and mounted in spaced relation to said assembly for rotation with said arms about said support; said arms, fan-motor assembly, deflector cone and louvers being swingable as a unit about the axis passing through said support.

11. An air circulator comprising a support, a pair of arms suspended from said support and rotatable about a horizontal axis passing through said support, a fan-motor assembly including a fan and a motor for said fan, said assembly pivotally mounted on the arms, a deflector cone and louvers associated with said arms and mounted in spaced relation to said assembly for rotation with said arms about said support; said arms, fan-motor assembly, deflector cone and louvers being swingable as a unit about the horizontal axis passing through said support, and said fan-motor assembly being independently rotatable on the said arms.

12. A hassock type air circulator comprising a support, a pair of arms suspended from said support and rotatable about a horizontal axis passing through said support, a fan-motor assembly including a housing, a fan, a motor for the fan, a guard for the fan mounted on the housing, said fan-motor assembly pivotally mounted on the arms, a deflector cone and louvers associated with said arms and mounted in spaced relation to said fan-motor assembly for rotation with said arms about said support; said arms, fan-motor assembly, deflector cone and louvers being swingable as a unit about the horizontal axis passing through said support, and said fan-motor assembly being independently rotatable on the said arms.

13. An air circulator including, in combination, a support having an axis, arm means carried by and rotatably mounted on said support, a fan-motor assembly comprising a fan and motor carried by and rotatably mounted in planetary arrangement on said arm means, the said arm means and fan-motor assembly being swingable as a unit about the axis of said support through an arc of degrees to move the fan-motor assembly to operating positions at different levels above and below the axis of the support, and the fan-motor assembly being rotatable into different operating positions planetary to the orbit of the swingable unit, and means for holding the fan-motor assembly in any selected operating position.

14. An air circulator including, in combination, a support having a horizontal axis, spaced arm means carried by and rotatably mounted on said support and swingable therefrom, a fan-motor assembly comprising a fan and motor carried by and rotatably mounted in planetary arrangement on the arm means and rotatable therebetween, the said arm means and fan-motor assembly being swingable as a unit about the horizontal axis of said support through an arc of 180 degrees and the said fanmotor assembly being independently rotatable into different operative positions planetary to the orbit of the swingable arm means, whereby the fan may be operated from a floor level below the axis of the support to direct air upwardly or from a level above the axis of the support to direct air laterally, and means for holding the fan-motor assembly in any selected operating position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,547,875 Hutto July 28, 1925 1,917,327 Preston July 11, 1933 2,123,448 Weber July 12, 1938 2,625,319 Reisch Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 557,890 Great Britain Dec. 9, 1943 

